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Friday, May 09, 2014

Koch Bros to spend $125M in 2014. Some focused on fighting tax hikes in Illinois

Poor Hary Reid. According to a memo obtained by Politico, the Koch Brothers plan to spend $125 million this year in affecting public policy nationwide.

The investment was revealed in a memo, titled “Confidential Investor Update,” which was sent to major donors in March. However, a source familiar with American For Prosperity (AFP) called the figure a “very conservative estimate.," saying "We’re on track for more than that.”

“Our data system was insufficient” and failed to quickly process information fed into it by thousands of canvassers and phone bankers contacting voters, causing “delays in updates, leading to some data inaccuracies during a critical phase of our organizing efforts.”

“We were outmanned” by the left generally and Obama’s campaign, specifically, which, the memo notes “had 770 field staff on the ground” in Florida alone. By contrast, the memo notes that AFP and “other network partners” had about 300 total field staff nationwide.

“The Left had a superior messaging strategy and implementation that effectively identified their demographic targets, determined which issues resonated best with which groups, and delivered specific messages over TV, radio and online ads for those audiences.”

Illinois' chapter of AFP is working to fight against tax increases. They have actively been fighting the graduated tax plan as well as House Speaker Mike Madigan's "millionaire tax."

Now AFP-IL is fighting the effort in the State House to make the 2011 67% tax hike permanent. Illinois' ED David From launched a full court pressure on 17 state lawmakers that have indicated at one time or another they were against making the increase permanent. He wants them to hold firm on their anti-tax hike rhetoric. In order to make the hike permanent, House Speaker Mike Madigan will need every Democrat to vote yes.

AFP-IL launched a campaign this week consisting of a massive direct mail effort, along with a website, KeepItTemporary.com, and grassroots efforts to oppose Governor Quinn and Speaker Madigan’s push to permanently hike the income tax.

“Illinoisans want to know: will those legislators who said they supported letting the income tax expire while campaigning stand up for taxpayers now? Or will they join Gov. Quinn and Speaker Madigan in breaking trust with their constituents and again hike taxes on all Illinoisans further damaging the state’s dismal economy?” asked From.

“Many of these legislators at one point recognized that permanently increasing the income tax will harm Illinois’s hardworking families and slow economic recovery. They need to honor their commitment to their constituents and allow the tax hike to expire as promised to taxpayers when the measure was passed.”

The 17 lawmakers AFP-IL is targeting are listed HERE. A sample of the mailings:

Comments

Koch Bros to spend $125M in 2014. Some focused on fighting tax hikes in Illinois

Poor Hary Reid. According to a memo obtained by Politico, the Koch Brothers plan to spend $125 million this year in affecting public policy nationwide.

The investment was revealed in a memo, titled “Confidential Investor Update,” which was sent to major donors in March. However, a source familiar with American For Prosperity (AFP) called the figure a “very conservative estimate.," saying "We’re on track for more than that.”

“Our data system was insufficient” and failed to quickly process information fed into it by thousands of canvassers and phone bankers contacting voters, causing “delays in updates, leading to some data inaccuracies during a critical phase of our organizing efforts.”

“We were outmanned” by the left generally and Obama’s campaign, specifically, which, the memo notes “had 770 field staff on the ground” in Florida alone. By contrast, the memo notes that AFP and “other network partners” had about 300 total field staff nationwide.

“The Left had a superior messaging strategy and implementation that effectively identified their demographic targets, determined which issues resonated best with which groups, and delivered specific messages over TV, radio and online ads for those audiences.”

Illinois' chapter of AFP is working to fight against tax increases. They have actively been fighting the graduated tax plan as well as House Speaker Mike Madigan's "millionaire tax."